For the 2015 competition, submissions must address the following topic: Courts are increasingly expecting "transparency" and "cooperation" among counsel during the discovery phase in civil litigation although we still expect lawyers to be advocates who are bound by strict confidentiality parameters regarding the secrecy of client confidences and work product protected by privilege. Identify the issues that you see impacted by these competing policy interests and provide your analysis and suggestions on how lawyers should navigate the civil discovery process to address these concerns. The judges are looking for creativity and support for arguments as well as excellent writing and reasoning.

Papers may relate to research done by the student outside the context of the 2015 competition.

Format

The paperís length must not exceed 5,000 total words. The word count is applicable to the total paper; the words on the title page, footnotes, figures, and tables are to be included.

All papers should be submitted in Microsoft Word document format, using 12 point font for all text. Papers must be typed double-spaced, with one-inch margins and numbered pages. All citations should be footnotes in 10 point font, single-spaced, with one-inch margins.

The first page must be a cover page that includes the following information: the studentís name, telephone number, and email address; the name of the studentís school; and the title of the paper. The cover page must also contain the final word count for the document.

At the top of page two, the student must place the title of the paper all in capitals. After the title, two lines must be skipped and the text of the paper should begin.

If tables or figures are included, they are to be placed after the text according to the following rules:

On the first page after the end of the text, a list of all tables and figures should be provided.

Each table and figure will then be placed on a separate page.

Evaluation Criteria

Originality.

Quality of legal and technical analysis.

Quality of writing.

Citation of authority and support for arguments.

Judging

R. Stanton Dodge, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, DISH Network L.L.C., along with attorneys from the leading Information Law firm of Redgrave LLP, will judge the entries to this competition.

The judges will evaluate all eligible submissions and, in their sole discretion, select a winning entry based on the Evaluation Criteria described above.